Missed Opportunities

Roger Penske defines "luck" this way: It's when preparedness meets opportunity. By that definition, we were out of luck Father's Day afternoon when, half-way through the feature, Sean Wilson suffered a rare mechanical DNF, handing us the lead. But a miscalculation on tires for the feature meant we weren't prepared for that opportunity and handed our gift off to Lee Griffith who was able to stay ahead and win. Dana, in her races, was very competitive, even fighting for and retaining the lead for a couple of laps in one of her heat races before inexperience did her in. All in all, in spite of all that ("Other than than, how'd you like the play, Mrs. Lincoln?"), it was a well-fought day again.

Preparations

In addition to the usual maintenance we had a fair amount of bodywork repair to do after my run-in (literally) with Lee Griffith on the last lap of the June 4 feature. There were also a few other set up changes we wanted to make in our continuing efforts to gain on Sean and distance ourselves from Lee. This was all complicated by a hectic couple of weeks in our non-racing lives: Dana's graduation and open house and a week for me on business in California. Precious little was done before my trip leaving almost all of it for the day before the race, virtually stepping off the redeye flight home and into the garage, jet lagged and with only 2 hours sleep. But by 10 o'clock Saturday night we were ready to go.

Dana's Practice

Arriving at the track we were met by an beleaguered and apologetic Butch McCall. Business obligations and a couple days without power at his shop kept him from having Dana's kart ready to race Sunday morning. It would be another one of them major thrashing days running the Conlin SpeedSports kart for both of us.

Since it had been a while since Dana drove our kart we decided to send her out in the first practice session to get reacquainted. For friends and family outside the sport, all karts are not the same: Seat and steering wheel position, throttle and brake pedal feel and position and, most importantly, handling characteristics are vastly different from kart to kart.

Before the track was open for practice Dana had done her reconnaissance mission - walking a lap of the track - and reported that it was very sticky. This was not a surprise. The Shifter Karts, at the top end of karting performance scale with their powerful engines and six-speed gearboxes, had raced at Circleville Raceway Park the weekend before. To harness all that power they run very soft tires which provide very good grip but in doing so transfer a lot of that rubber to the track surface. There had not been any heavy rain in the intervening week and much of that sticky rubber was still there waiting for us. Experienced racers felt that the sticky track would probably make everyone about a second slower seeing as how it would "tighten-up" the karts - the extra adhesion would prevent the back end from sliding out in the corners. Also, the sticky track increases rolling resistance as the tire has to pull it's trailing edge of the contact patch off the road as it rolls along. (You wouldn't think that would be so but there have been times we've stopped on course during practice and found the kart temporarily "glued" to the track when we went to push it away.)

So with combination of a tight track and Dana's estranged relationship with our kart, we send her out with moderate expectations. By lap three it was apparent that she was still comfortable in her old ride and her driving style appreciated the tight track. On lap five she recorded her best ever lap of CRP in any kart, a 52.17.

Okay, Dana, you proved your point.

Jim's Practice

Being obvious that Dana needed no more familiarization with our kart, I went out for the second session and could only manage to get within half a second of Dana's best. But the kart felt good, I kept it on the black part and there were no surprises. On the whole, we were encouraged for our prospects on the day. But much more important than all that, I was looking spectacularly spiffy in my brand new blue and black driver's suit, a Father's Day present from the kids. To quote Larry Wilson, Sr. upon eyeing up the new suit, "those kids must really like you".

Jim's Heat 1

At the start Lee shot into the lead with John Gearhart second and Sean breathing down his neck. Somewhere before Turn 3 I got past Gary Frasier and was waiting to see how Sean was going to get past John. Sean tried the inside at Three but couldn't quite get it done and the battle carried into Four with John on the inside. They went through Four side by side and I saw an opportunity to capitalize on the penalty they would suffer in exit speed. I turned in later than usual and clipped an later than usual apex.

Onto the backstraight we were three wide, Sean building speed on the right edge of the track, John trying to give him room by running the center and our kart trying to edge past both of them on the left side of the track. As we were to learn later, all eyes were on us back in pits and spectator areas as the configuration that we were in traditionally ends in carnage at the end of the back straight.

About half way to Turn Five it became obvious that I was not going to edge ahead of Sean before the braking zone so the strategy for the immediate 1.5 seconds was to get around John in order to stay with Sean. All along the backstraight (wasn't that a Hendrix tune?) John kept looking over to Sean monitoring his progress so as to not impede his race to the front. As I've said before, John is a great guy and is out there just to have fun and doesn't want to get in anyone's way unnecessarily. But it was obvious to me as he kept looking over to Sean that he had no idea I was on the other side of him. With Turn Five rushing at all three of us at 52 mph or so, I found myself thinking, "Over here John, look over here... yoo hoo... yo John, hey buddy, over here." Of course all that went through my head much faster than you can read it because decision time was about .2 seconds away.

They say bravery and discretion are what make up valor and of the two, discretion is the better part. As much as I hated to do it, I had to back out and fall in behind John to keep it from getting ugly at Five. As it was, it still got a little unsightly. John assumed correctly that Conlin SpeedSports was right behind him and eager to get past to chase Sean. But in his efforts to give me room, he got off the groove and onto the slick part of the track. When I went by him he was out of road and starting a fun little spin. Unfortunately, Gary spun trying to avoid him and although both were able to get going again, the rest of the field were nowhere in site.

I was able to close back in on Sean and was even able to try him on the inside at Ten on lap 3. On lap 4 he was able to get past Lee for the lead and I tried to follow him through on the entrance to Turn 3. I wasn't able to get close enough to claim the corner from Lee and had a big, tire-smoking sideways moment avoiding him. Whenever you have one of those, you fall way back and such is the payment for poorly timed passing attempts in this sport. I was able to crawl back up to Lee's rear bumper in the remaining laps, even taking an unsuccessful shot at him too at Ten but couldn't find a way around. Sean won, Lee second, Jim third.

Dana's Heat 1

Any first lap timidness Dana had harbored earlier in the season has been dispelled apparently. On the start, no doubt helped by a welcomed push from Bryan Rose from behind, Dana managed to stay with Briggs Medium fast guy John Fox all the way to Turn Three. Having the better, inside line through there, she led into and then out of Four. In fact, so "on" was she with the tight track, she led fair and square for the first two laps. It wasn't until Turn Three on lap 3 that Jason Karr, who had gotten around John somewhere in the second lap, wedged in and took the lead away from her.

John, wanting to not let Jason get away, tried Dana at four but was on the outside line where marbles and missing asphalt (removed by the Shifter Karts) worked against him and he put two wheels off at the exit. I was a little concerned that Dana, with less experience in running side by side, had not given him enough room and was a little relieved to have him say later that she had done everything right, that he had just gotten himself on the wrong piece of track.

The next lap Dana, with John still looking for a way by, got a little loose at Four and John got his run at her down the backstraight. When they got to Five she knew the corner was his but in what sounded a lot like what John Gearhart had done in the Heavy race, ran wide, got over the curb and spun. Rear wheels spinning in the grass, Bryan and Brad Frasier both got by while she waited for the corner worker to get to her.

Back on the track, she carried on to finish fifth but, to add insult to injury, she was DQ'd at the scales for being under minimum weight by about a pound an a half. This was a surprise for the crew since we had weighed the kart/driver package after practice and all was well. Getting no points for a race she led was a bit of a bitter pill to swallow for the whole team.

Jim's Heat 2

From the pole I was able to get a good start and retain the lead by the time we got to Turn Three. With Sean on the outside, the pole is no guarantee of an advantage. Onto the backstraight I knew it was my race too loose if I wasn't careful and tidy.

It almost happened on lap three when I got a little wide at Five and scrubbed off some speed. Just like the 3:15 from Cleveland, Sean showed up right on time going into Six. I saw he was there but refused to surrender the corner, only racing room. We went through Six wheel to wheel but never touched and although we both lost speed in doing that I, on the longer radius, came out with higher revs and stayed ahead of Sean. Lee, back in third was watching all this and was quick to capitalize, using his unabated speed through Six to surge past Sean on the way into Seven. Another case of a mistimed passing attempt doing more harm than good.

I wasn't aware of another challenge the rest of the race and kept what seemed to be a comfortable margin over second placed Lee. The kart was working very nicely through most of the course and especially through the Three-Four combination. Without lifting off the throttle, I was able to turn in early, slide the kart through Three, make the transition cross track for Four, turn in, drive over the curb late and drift to the outside curb and have 4700-4800rpm on the clock. Later in the race though I got the first sense that the front tires may have been giving up: at the smoother high-speed right-handers the front of the kart was running out of track before the rear. We had new tires but I ran out of time before raceday to mount them up and with running the kart for both of us, saw no time to do it trackside either. I figured (hoped) that they could last a few more laps.

Dana's Heat 2

At the green, Dana (this race with an additional five pound weight added to the chassis) found room to slot in behind John and followed Jason, Bryan and John into Three. At Four, Bryan and John fought for second place, and while it was hard to tell if they got together or if Bryan just found himself on the undesirable outside line at Four, the result was the 56 kart being out off road and in the grass at the exit. As Bryan was trying to ease his way back on, Dana and maybe Brad, too, were able to get by.

After that, the race settled down to a pretty mundane run for Dana. Jason and John were together up front and Brad and Bryan were keeping each other honest for fourth and fifth. I wasn't sure she knew there was no one behind her and was afraid she might be pushing too hard given the circumstances so I signaled that she had a big margin behind her. I relaxed a bit when she acknowledged back. Later though, she said she could see Bryan and Brad at certain points and knew there was no pressure. Why was I worrying?

So, a nice, steady, (if boring) run for Dana to third place. She didn't complain about the understeer that I sensed in my race previous. That could be due to a lack of sensitivity yet or maybe a liking to slightly understeering set up, but the diminishing performance of the tires showed in the lap times, a low 53 being her best. Hindsight being 20/20, we should have done something about the front tires then.

Jim's Feature

Going into the feature Lee, Sean and I were tied in the day's points: Sean, with a first and a third (40 + 36) scored 76 points; me, with a third and a first (36 + 40) scored the same; and Lee, with his two second place finishes (38 + 38) also had 76. The tiebreaker then is the original random-drawn starting position for the first heat. Learn something new each time out.

Sean got a good start and was around Lee out of Turn One. Maybe it was that Lee got a bad start because I got by him between Two and Three. I was happy to see that our kart was no longer falling back from he Wilson Racing kart as it did earlier in the season. They seemed to have some legs on us coming onto the mainstraight and on the run down to Turn Three but I could make all that up by taking Three and Four (especially Three) flat. Lots of fun being able to close the gap like that.

The rest of the corners weren't as much fun though. Each time through Five, Six and Eight I found myself struggling to keep the kart on the road on the exit. It was about lap three that I realized we were in deep trouble. I even found myself considering our options for Dana's feature since to send her out on these tires would be ridiculous. And at some point I began to worry more about keeping Lee behind me than catching Sean.

Turns Three and Four were still working for me though and felt this was probably my main chance to put distance between Lee and I each lap. On lap four, I was shocked to look up from the edge of the track at the exit of Three to see Sean shooting off the road at a high rate of speed. Not spinning off, just driving off, the result, I learned later, of a drivetrain problem. This gave us the lead.

I had only enough time to think, "Thank you very much" before it was time to turn in to Four. I turned in exactly like I had the three laps previous and the 12 laps earlier in the day but this time the nose of the kart just plowed off line and I could do nothing to keep all four wheels on the road. It was like the tires just gave up completely at some point during that lap and there was nothing there when I needed it in Four.

Lee shot by in a flash. The last half of the race was a struggle to keep the kart on the pavement as I tried not to lose touch with Lee. Interestingly, he was having similar problems, fighting his front tires too. With two laps to go I got a run on Lee down the backstraight and poked my nose inside at Five but there was no way it would work out given the conditions and so I backed out and ultimately settled for second.

I don't usually mind finishing second or even third when it's been a close race but having the lead handed to us and then throwing it away almost immediately stung. It ate at me the rest of the day. The rest of the week actually. Another lesson learned: When the tires even hint at going off, dump them - and always have replacements ready.

Jim's Feature times

Dana's Feature

We borrowed a couple of fresh front tires from McCall Motorsports to replace the two that had become useless in my feature. The problem was, however, that they were a slightly softer compound and had the potential to "out-grip" the harder and more worn rears. Dana was sent out with the advice to be cautious the first lap or two until she could assess the karts behavior.

For her feature Dana started from last place by virtue of zero points scored in that first heat. Heeding our warning about the front tires making the kart loose, she took it easy the first lap and fell back from the others immediately. The kart was loose in this configuration but by lap three she had come to grips with the new handling and was chasing down Brad who was in turn chasing Bryan.

With two laps to go, she was right behind Frasier. She had an opportunity on the backstraight, took it and looked like she was past going into Five. But once again, her speed carried her too far at the exit and had two wheels off. Brad got back by and stayed there until the checkered flag.

Dana's Feature times

Summary

Racing is all about making as few mistakes as possible. The least mistakes in preparation, in setup, in lapping, in overtaking. I even believe that there is no such thing as a perfect race. There are just too many variables to be able to get every single one of them right lap after lap, race after race.

We made more than our fair share of mistakes this day and not having replacement tires ready was probably the biggest one. But as long as we continue to learn from our mistakes - as we have been the last year and a half - and avoid repeating them, we'll find ourselves finishing at the front more and more.

But it was still fun and that has always been a criteria when our family has been involved in competitive endeavors: It's okay to be frustrated or even angry with yourself over a poor performance but in the final analysis it has to still be fun. If there is nothing but agony in defeat, then try another sport.

An interesting point and a bit of a milestone for Conlin SpeedSports: This event marks the first time Dana has been faster than her dad all day long. As illustrated in the re-posting of our lap times below for comparative purposes, every time she went out in our kart she posted at least one lap that was faster than her Old Man's. And her Old Man is not really sure how to feel about that - proud of her because she did or a little intimidated because she did. Sure there is a weight difference between us. On the other hand, each time Dana went out, the track had deteriorated that much more so one could say it evened out. Maybe not. But the basic fact is that she has developed to the point where given the same piece of machinery, she can make it go around the track faster than I can and, all things considered, I guess I'm more proud of her 'cause she can.

Feature times (Jim top, Dana bottom)